The Bees: Dead-Tides
by Jyn Ryvia
Summary: My name is Taylor Hebert, I live in a world of wonder and horror, I work for a Bond villain, and my job is going to kill me... So why is it that The Mortgage is the thing that keeps me up at night?
1. A normal morning for Taylor

don't own Worm or The Secret World

Chapter 1: A normal morning for Taylor.

* * *

One of those little things that most people who found themselves managing their own property will learn was that you should always be careful about leasing out a room to a friend, as you could never know if your friendship would survive the next rent day.

"Dammit! I already gave you an extra week to get the money, you cant keep doing this, I have my own bills to pay," said the young woman loudly, a teenager, in fact, who was still long-limbed and spindly from the rapid growth spurts. with long well-kept hair and glasses on her face. Her little too wide mouth was set in a grimace as she banged on a locked door in the second floor of an old, worn-down house in the middle of the old, worn-down city of Brockton Bay.

 _Resources_ , _scarcity_. was the whiny reply.

"bullshit, I know that they are paying you way more than most of us lowly agents at your cushy administrative job, definitely more than me." The girl replied snappily, her impatience growing as she stamped her foot on the floor, "It's not my problem if you spend all your earning on crap you don't need."

Taylor just wished that someone had told her that before she let this idiot into her house. Maybe her 'employers' were right, charity and goodwill were for fools.

 _Need_ , _uniqueness_. was the quick counter to her argument, a bit more heated and defensive this time.

"Ok, maybe you have an excuse for the shoes, what with all the extra feet you have compared to us, but you order a kitten online almost every day! You don't see me going to a fancy restaurant every day and ordering the lobster, do you?"

 _Outrage_ ** _! Authority!_**

"I don't care if you were a queen back in your dimension," Taylor snorted, "in this one you're a tent who is always late in paying her gracious host the rent, despite it being far cheaper than anything she would get else were." Taylor at this point just let out a sigh as her shoulders slumped, a tired look settling on her face, "look, I really need you to transfer the money to my bank account, I might be gone for sometime, so I need to make sure that the automatic payment for the house is good for a while."

There was a silence for a solid minute in the worn-down hallway before the door opened a crack and sixteen yellow slit eyes peered from the darkness.

 _Worry_ , _status_? anxiousness forTaylor'ss wellbeing melting any of the anger that was present moments ago.

"It's fine," Taylor replied with a gloomily and with a scowl, obviously not fine, "I just got a call from Lisa saying that the Boss," the last word was more spat out then said, "wants me to meet him at the main base in New York, said he had a new job for me to 'pay off my debts'… you know how it is, could only take a day or two, or I will be gone for months." No matter how she tried to sound nonchalant, the worried quiver could still be heard in her voice.

 _Acknowledge_. _Payment_ … _Hugs_?

"Thanks, sorry for hounding you about it. And Queeny? while I love you like the sister I never had, I still have to get my brain scrubbed every time I look at you directly without taking the right pills first. Please, no hugs."

 _Dismissal_!

And with a gargle that was the equivalent of a huff, the door was slammed shut. Shaking her head and turning away from the door Taylor walked over to the other side of the hall and into her own room to finish packing for the trip.

while it was as old as the rest of the house and nor was it particularly girly, you could still tell that it was the room of an average teenage girl. with clothes thrown all over the place, gathering in piles on the floor or hanging off the closets and the chair. The one next to the study table with the vanity mirror that had under it some makeup boxes that were rarely used and the ammunition boxes that were always half empty.

On the walls were the usual posters of movie scenes and music bands. Books were still Taylors first and only love, but now that she had friends again to go to concerts and cinemas and no school to take up her time she was starting to branch out to the other forms of entertainment.

Along with the posters was a painting, dream catchers, psychic catchers, photos, some weird wall light thing Lisa said was perfect for the room and the all-important angelic and demonic wards and pentagrams, to cover all bases.

And last but not least was the simple two-person bed in the centre of the room, with Taylors old school bag half packed and her mini-assault shotgun with its 'notice me not' ward placed on top of a pile of supplies and tools she will need for her trip.

A pretty normal room for a sixteen-year-old, in certain crowds.

As Taylor walked up to the bag and started to finish packing it, her mind wondered off to how exactly she was going to get to New York. A problem that got her biting her lip in worry as she placed her Blood magic focus on her wrist like a bracelet.

 _"Lisa said that it was not urgent, but still time sensitive,"_ which for that fucking monster, I mean bastard! ( _"don't be speciesist Taylor,"_ she told herself, _"you're better than that.")_ means that while you didn't have to be there yesterday, if you are later then some unreasonably short timeframe he is expecting of you he will see it as a failed test.

Considering that the last time someone failed a test they spent Three hours in a hell dimension, she should probably haul ass. (just cause Alex kind of liked it doesn't mean it's not that bad, it just means he's that spine-chillingly depraved.)

So it looks like even air-couch it out, even without the costs of un-booked flights. She was going to need the expressway. A shiver ran down her back at the very thought of the 'Expressway' as she finished zipping up her bag and putting it on her back while strapping the Shotgun to her the quick draw holster on her leg.

After taking a deep breath to ready herself, Taylor then with confident strides she did not feel made her way down the stairs, grabbed her 'smartphone' from its charger, her dad hated them, but it was mandatory for work, and headed out the front door with its creaky steps and down the street.

She had a meeting in a different city to get to, which meant she had to first head back to her old school, and then step into a curtain locker.

* * *

The Secret world fanfiction is few and far between, and most focus on the eldritch and existential horror/weirdness of the setting while forgetting the really interesting thing about it.

how the humans in the setting, when exposed to that eldritch and existential horror/weirdness for long enough, adapt to it and continue on with life.

while Cascade is the story I'm using to teach myself writing in general, The Bees will be me trying to practice keeping my plot and pacing at a good speed.


	2. Taylor finds a Locker and climbs a Tree

Don't own Worm or The Secret World

Chapter two: Taylor finds a locker and climbs a tree.

* * *

Winslow High was a shit hole when it was still up and running, the only difference being a closed, 'abandoned' and vandalised building was that these days it fully looked the part. Taylors mused with a little bit of validation as she gazed on her old stomping grounds through the chain-linked fence. The concrete building was covered in cracks and with damp stains on every nook and corner. The windows and doors boarded up and covered in bird crap or graffiti and often both. On a gloomy night like this it was the perfect place to film a b-list horror flick, just needed the masked psycho and slutty cheerleader.

 _"Maybe Emma could get a part?"_ Taylor joked to herself, _"though I'm not sure for which role."_

It did not take her long to climb the fence, it was a well-used skill in her new lifestyle, and all too soon she was back in the grounds of the place that was her own personal hell or so long, though at least she was the one who as still around and not it, despite it and it's inhabitants best effects.

It would still make her angry though when she remembered that it was not the drugs or the gangs and of course not something as small bullying that did the place in, no one important cared about those things. If that was all then the place would still be turning out undereducated kids to this day.

No, what happened was that someone from her 'community' found something of actual significance in the school, the only thing of its type that was not in a building owned by the fanatics and her own superiors,

And suddenly the place was deemed too poorly ran by the city council and closed down. The land bought up by a very different type of council. The whole thing would have made her laugh if it didn't make her want to cry a little.

Shaking her head to get rid of the bitter thoughts Taylor started to make her way around the building till she spotted the boarded up door she was looking for, It was one of the emergency exits with a large plank of wood across it that was nailed on to the building tightly. The only thing that was strange about it was the lack of graffiti on it except for a one, a blue lion's head with a sword sticking through it.

Grinning, Taylor quickly jogged up to it and placed her hand on the push bar of the door, instantly she felt a tingling go up her arm as the wards around the building scanned her for the _'knack'_.

After a moment, they found what they wanted and boards that were never really there disappeared as the door swung open letting Taylor into the darkness that was the inside of the school itself.

As she walked into the school, the ghosts of the passed overlayed with the present as her memories played out unwanted for her. As she walked through the damp and moulding halls she saw the crowds that would push and shove as groups of girls would whisper whatever lie or Joke that was the flavour of the day. That classroom would, instead of being empty except for the cobwebs, be full of out of date computers were Mrs Knott would walk around looking at each one to make sure people were doing what they were supposed to do. Taylor could picture her face, the sad and guilty little smile the teacher would give her as the bell rang, Mrs Knotts protection from the bullies not lasting passed the door.

As she turned the corridor she made it into the locker area, half of them broken into and left without doors on the last day as the junkies tried to make off with whatever spoils they could get.

Her own locker was just over there, in the very centre of the room, still with the door on, people probably knowing there was nothing to steal, her eyes lingered on it more a bit, the nasty memory rising particularly strong here, before she walked passed it and further into the dark room, until it was not so dark anymore.

As she got nearer to her destination the signs of her destination were getting more and more pronounced, first It was just a few flowers and blades of grass sticking out of spots on the floor. Then the patches of earth and moss and vines growing on lockers and the walls that started to appear, and most importantly the sound of ** _Buzzing_** had started up. And then at the very end, it was like a little garden had started eating up the urban building, as nature slowly gained its right back from the creation of man as plant life and soil and water and life spiralled out from one spot. Little yellow and orange glowing bugs the uninitiated would think were dragonfly's but Taylor know were **_The Bees_** darting around the place as if guiding the whole thing.

Actually, they probably were.

Taylor took a moment to appearance the beautiful but eerie sight before turning towards the source and her goal.

There at the very end was a locker whose door was blown open as a great shining light came from it. The light to bright to see passed yet still impossibly gently on the eyes, the ** _Buzzing_** coming from it the strongest, to the point that Taylor almost thought she could hear a _whispering_ underneath it.

Walking up to it Taylor shook the focus on her wrist out of her sleeve and placed it over her heart as she stood in front of the light, her face inches away from it.

After Taking a deep shuttering breath, she used the sharp spike on the focus to draw blood from her palm and silently casting the strongest healing spell she could on herself before jumping right into the light.

And with that Taylor Herbert used an **_Agartha_** portal to jumped out of the simple world of Brockton Bay and right into the heart of the Secret World.

* * *

 _Twisting, Pain, turning Lights, darkness, PAin, Buzzing, movement,_ _ **iT flows..**_ _Buzzing…_ _ **sO swEEt**_ _, light, pAiN, PAIN,_ _ **PAIN!**_

Taylor gasps as she was hurled out of the portal onto the hard, oddly warm wooden floor and lay there in a curled up ball, spasming and whimpering as she felt her spell corse through her, quickly repairing the damage that she gained through the trip to Agartha even while the spell itself was taking its own chunk out of her. Fucking blood magic.

That path was not meant for the likes of her, it was reserved for the chosen of Gaia. She just had the means to survive it.

Taylor stayed there on the floor for some time, repeatedly using smaller, less drastic spells to finish off the healing. After about half an hour she felt good enough to slowly wobble back on to her feet, once she had her balance back she took out a pack of wipes and started cleaning her face, not even a little surprised at the amount of blood that was wiped away from her mouth, nose and eyes. Once she was done she had a good look at her surroundings.

Agartha was known as the realm beneath the earth to most in the secret world, and if you just asked someone what it was they would just say it was a way for those who can use it to get from place to place fast. Technically accurate, but a poor description all the same.

The first thing you needed to know about Agartha was that it was a parallel dimension that was mostly a void filled while light and amber glow. Mostly, in that there was something in that void and that was the giant trees that grow from the unseeable distance below and up to and past the unseeable distance above, with their branches reaching out to each other and intertwining to connect one to the next, or stretching out into the air and ending as great wooden platforms over the nothingness.

Taylor was currently standing on one of these branches, some fourteen meters wide with the top flat like someone craved a walkway out of it with a wood knife. At the ends of the branch were three twisting knots door high with portals in the centre of them including the one she came from, all of them leading to different parts of the Bay.

 _"Now, to get to the New York portal,"_ Taylor thought to herself as she started to walk up the length of the branch, this was the traditional challenge of traveling viva Agartha, the branches between different portals were almost maze-like, and with having to climb up and down it adding a fun dimensional element to things, add on top of that the fact portals moved, going in and to the centre with regular use and important and out and away with infrequent use and irrelevance. Getting lost was a serious problem not even a few years back.

 _"Luckily,"_ she thought happily as she took out her work phone out and pressed an app with a yellow 'A' on it, a map appearing on it with a bar on top asking for what portal she wanted to find, _"that was a few years back."_

A second after putting in 'Main New York' into the app, a little line appeared. Taylor following it without a second thought, the young teen walking through a mystical place of wonder with her face glued to her phone, Typical.

It was not long before she had made it to the trunk of the biggest tree in sight, were a crowd had started to come together around her in her journey as portals to more busy places started appearing as she moved, some were like her and looked like they had been through the ringer, but most had popped through the portal and kept on walking without a fuss.

Taylor tried not to glare at them and remember that she was the weird one for trying to force her way through Agartha, but the nervous looks and wide berth she was being given meant that she was failing.

She was not sorry.

As she went she also started to see some of the Custodians, great golems of metal, magic, and ancient technology cruder and more advanced than anything today.

Taylor was now close enough to see the hollowed out centre of the biggest tree in sight and hear the sounds of what was a once the little market that was set up by some _very_ enterprising souls in the past, nowadays it was a major spot for the supernatural economy, wizard Wallstreet some called it, there was even a Michelin stars restaurant in there somehow.

Taylor would usually take the time to browse the shops whenever she had to come this way even if she could not afford anything. But she really did not have time today and instead moved around it and up to the main 'floor'.

And there, right up against the tree were the three most important Portals in the world at this time, the old man in the conductor uniform himself standing in front of them and like always checking his watch every other moment.

The London portal, the long-time resident at the centre of the World and home to the fanatics.

The New York portal, newer than the old timer, but still well established, standing there since 1683, not long after the first European settler hit the Americas, and where the bosses called the shots.

The Seoul portal, the new placeholder, there for a few years now, but will be replaced with the new home of those terrorists whenever they desired a change of location.

 _"The fact that Venice moved down to one of the lower branches three years back said more about the current political climate then any words could."_ Taylor actually felt sadness at that thought to her surprise, the Council may have always been a bit useless but they were the only ones even pretending to be looking after everyone and not just their own. They even did some good, here and there, sometimes.

Standing in front of the New York portal as people around her jumped in without any worries, Taylor just gave out a groan of misery as she once more brought out her Blood Focus, a resigned but determined look settling on her face.

Once more into the breach.

* * *

updates, yay!


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